Nora’s memories part three: The building of Bala
With this week’s column we continue to delve into Nora’s memories of T.F. Reilly, that great millionaire building contractor who hailed from Stragella, just outside Cavan Town. In 1900, Catherine and T.F. Reilly’s homecoming, as told by Nora, speaks of how they caught up with T.F.’s first cousin, Patrick J. Lawlor, before inviting him to join them on the ship back to America.
T.F. and Patrick were mutual in their love of hard work and joined forces. Between them they built a complete American town, making them the envy of every builder across the beautiful State of Pennsylvania. Building a house, let alone a town, is no easy feat and stands testament to the skill and endurance of these two hardworking Irish builders.
Killygarry Church
After the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, T.F. and Catherine made another home visit to Ireland. They generously donated towards the Cavan Town Cathedral building fund and St Brigid’s Church, Killygarry, received an upgrade courtesy of T.F. who installed a central heating system to stop parishioners chattering in the cold Cavan winter months. Furthermore, Patrick Lawlor installed a superlative organ in the church, which Nora called a bit of a white elephant because, said she, nobody had a notion how to play it.
Patrick Lawlor erected a marble shrine in the same church in memory of his dear parents. Since those far off days, Killygarry Church has received various upgrades including reroofing and the installation of new seating in 2005 as stated by Monsignor Liam Kelly in his book, Churches of the Diocese of Kilmore.
Mr Lawlor planned to build a house for his sister, Mrs Coyle of Drumaughra, and another one for his brother in Killygarry. In Nora’s estimation, they were both fine houses. But not to be outdone, T.F. went over to Big Johnny, and told him he’d build him a house too, at the top of the lane, but his brother’s reply was that he would rather live at a place they called the Hollow.
Cavan visit
In the mid-1920s, during one of Catherine and T.F.’s homecoming trips, they called to the School in Drumcrave where Catherine once taught local children, and they spoke to Master O’Rourke who told them that Nora Reilly (whose memories we have been recalling) was a prize student and he asked if they help support her education. From 13 years of age, the Reillys paid for Nora’s education. But all was not well in the wider world and the roaring twenties ground to a stop in 1929 with the Wall Street Crash. That knocked everything off course for the Reillys’ building enterprise in Philadelphia.
T.F.’s cousin, Patrick Lawlor, was badly stung and his sudden death from severe shock at the age of forty was attributed to effects of the economic downturn on his health. Their hard-earned success was slipping away, and it necessitated that T.F. make huge spending cuts in order to survive. Sadly, because of the cuts, Nora’s schooling ended abruptly. However, she understood the hardship faced by her American relatives and talked of how T.F.’s living standards changed.
To complicate matters further he could not sell off a bit of his machinery, since nobody had money. The beleaguered businessman owned a beachfront property, which could not be disposed of, but in the end, a buyer was found and it sold well below the asking price to the ‘Sons of Italy.’ T.F. was badly affected, and yet that old endurance that saw him build towns meant that he adapted and survive he did. He regained contentment, and as Nora noted, he was blessed with a long life and the company continued too.
Charles Edward Reilly
Charles Edward Reilly was born on June 30, 1905, a son to T.F. Reilly and Catherine Reilly. According to records, he attended ‘Lehigh University’ and joined a variety of groups including Holy Name Society and the Men of Malvern, and the Union League. The Philadelphia Inquirer said he was a Main Line real estate broker and builder, who succeeded his father as president of the family construction and management firm of T.F. Reilly Inc.
Charles held the position of president in the company for many years, until his retirement in 1960. He had an enterprising nature and branched into real estate with his son T.F. Reilly Jnr, establishing offices in King of Prussia, Philadelphia. Charles Snr died on Wednesday, March 8, 1961, at the age of 61 years at Brywn Mawr Hospital, Philadelphia and was survived by his wife Kathryn McHugh Reilly and his sons, Charles E. Reilly Jnr, T.F. Jnr, H. Bart, and James F.; and four sisters, Reverend Mother Mary Fintan, of the Sisters of the Holy Child, Mrs Catherine Greany, Mrs Monica Whalen, and Mrs Helen Winegart; and 12 grandchildren.
Charles E. Reilly Jnr
Charles Edward Reilly Junior’s achievements are extensive. He served in the Korean War; became an executive director of the National Catholic Office for Radio and Television in New York; founded In-Person Communications in 1976; was an adjunct associate professor at St John’s University in New York and at the Valley Forge Military Academy, Pennsylvania; and serving as a newspaper columnist for over thirty years, and also authored nine books, as well as hosting several television programmes.
On his blog, https://charlesereillyjr-myblog.blogspot.com/ for St Patrick’s Day 2019, Charles wrote an entry dedicated to his grandfather T.F. Reilly whom he fondly remembers as Poppa.
To conclude this column, I will leave you with Charles’s own description of his grandfather Thomas Francis Reilly from Stragella, Co Cavan. Charles E. wrote: ‘He worked with his hands. And some hands they were,
“Two-fisted Tom Reilly” was his moniker when he was a railroad man. After that tour of duty, he became a contractor and a millionaire. My earliest memories of him were of this very big man we called “Poppa”. Of course, all people seem huge when you’re a kid, but he was exceptional. When he passed on in his late 80s, he was still over six feet. I can still see him sitting in his living room on a straight back chair listening to Bing Crosby’s recording of Toora Loora Li. Poppa became a proud American like so many others who were not born here.
‘My clearest memory has him seated at the head of the table with a bowl of boiled potatoes as his side dish. A part of Ireland that never left him.’
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Nora's memories: The family of James Reilly and Bridget Lawlor